Catherine Hardwicke's previous films, Thirteen and Twilight, primed her for this enticing bauble based on the Brothers Grimm's tale of sexual awakening. A werewolf terrorizes a village and a witch hunter (a marvelous Gary Oldman) comes to ferret out the evil within. The lovely Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) loses her sister to the beast, and she rejects Henry the blacksmith (Jeremy Irons's son Max!) for Peter the woodcutter (Shiloh Fernandez). Valerie hopes to escape all this turmoil by visiting her grandmother (Julie Christie!) in the woods, but is she safe when the wolf might be anywhere - or anyone? Fattening fairy tales for the screen is tricky, and Hardwicke gets it half right, valorizing romance over duty, integrity over tyranny. But the anachronistic dialogue is wince-worthy, and the lush cinematography is undermined by implausible colors. Still, this promises sweet, sexy bloodlust, and teenage girls will gobble it up.
